The subject matter disclosed herein relates to switchgear, and more particularly relates to a spout configured to support a connection between different compartments of the switchgear.
Switchgear, such as medium voltage (“MV”) switchgear, includes various components secured within an enclosed structure. The switchgear is divided into compartments, such as a circuit breaker compartment housing one or more circuit breakers, a bus bar compartment housing a bus bar system, and a cable connection compartment housing a current transformer. The circuit breakers in the circuit breaker compartment can be electrically connected to the bus bar system in the bus bar compartment via spouts. The spouts provide an insulator/bushing system enabling the connections of the circuit breaker to be plugged into the bus system.
Spouts can be mounted onto a wall of the switchgear that separates the circuit breaker compartment from the bus bar compartment and cable connection compartment. Spouts include an insulative body having a longitudinal recess. Bolted within an interior of the longitudinal recess is a fixed contact for axially receiving the circuit breaker connection. A bus bar, such as a copper bar, is passed within a radial opening in the body. The bus bar makes contact with the fixed contact within an interior of the spout, thus providing electrical contact between the circuit breaker connection and the bus bar when the circuit breaker is plugged within the spout.